ing, and came down stairs to find the Colonel
pacing the length of the dining-room, his head bent, a worried frown
upon his brow. He came to a sudden halt at my appearance and regarded me
a moment without speaking. I could see that something of moment had
happened, but I could fathom nothing of its nature from his expression.

"Good morning, Arnold," he said with a certain grim pleasantness. "I
have just been making a discovery. It appears that Mose's ha'nt amounted
to more than we gave him credit for. The safe was robbed during the
night."

"The safe robbed!" I cried. "How much was taken?"

"Something over a hundred dollars in cash, and a number of important
papers."

He threw open the door of the little office, and waved his hand toward
the safe which occupied one end. The two iron doors were wide open, the
interior showing a succession of yawning pigeon holes with the cash
drawer, half pulled out and empty. Several papers were spilled on the
floor underneath.

"He evidently had no use for my will nor for Kennisburg street railway
stock--I don't blame him; it wouldn't sell for the paper it's written
on."

Radnor's step sounded on the stair as he came running down--whistling I
noted.

"Ah--Rad," the Colonel called from the office doorway. "You're a good
sleeper."

Radnor stopped his whistle as his eye fell upon our faces, and his own
took on a look of anxiety.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Has anything happened?"

"It appears the ha'nt has robbed the safe."

"The ha'nt?" Rad's face went visibly white, and then in a moment it
cleared; his expression was divided between relief and dismay.

"Oh!" he said, "you've missed the money? I meant to get down first and
tell you about it, but overslept. I took a hundred dollars out of the
safe last night because I wanted the cash--you had gone to bed so I
didn't say anything about it. I will ride into the village this morning
and get it out of the bank in time to pay the men."

"You took a hundred dollars," the Colonel repeated. "And did you take
the securities also and the bag of coin?" He waved his hand toward the
safe. Radnor's eye followed and his jaw dropped.

"I didn't touch anything but the roll of bills in the cash drawer.
What's missing?"

"Five thousand dollars in bonds, a couple of insurance policies and one
or two deeds--also the bag of coin. Mose saw the ha'nt in the night, and
Arnold and I came down to investigate; we unfortunately neglected the